# On Laundry and Lint

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-laundry-and-lint/175505>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [May 15, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-laundry-and-lint/175505 "2003-05-15T18:50:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Rhum\_Runner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rhum\_Runner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhum_Runner)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-laundry-and-lint/175505/1 "2003-05-15T18:50:59Z")

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So, as I took my wash out of the drier this morning, I cleaned the lint tray, as I always do, and was struck, as I always am, by the amount of lint from my clothes and towels. It caused me to ponder, where does the lint come from? I concluded it must be a collection of fibers that wears off the clothes as they tumble around in the drier. So, I say to myself, I wonder how long I would have to tumble my clothes before they were reduced to only lint. I estimate that the clothing in the drier weighed about 2.5 kilos, and the lint produced in a full drier cycle probably came in around 5 grams. But, as the clothing wears away, surely less lint must be produced. So, and I am guessing here, I think that in about 1500 drier cycles, I would be left with just the metal from my jeans. Mundane, and pointless.

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**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-laundry-and-lint/175505/2 "2003-05-15T18:53:55Z")

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I cleaned out the lint drawer before going to play poker with some cow-orkers one night and put a couple of big handfulls under my shirt next to my belly button. During the game I made a comment about how much navel lint I generate as started to pull large gobs out from there. By about the 3rd handfull my boss was on the floor.

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**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\
**Post date:** [May 15, 2003, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-laundry-and-lint/175505/3 "2003-05-15T20:05:33Z")

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Lieu, so am I. That is inspired!

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**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\
**Post date:** [May 16, 2003, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-laundry-and-lint/175505/4 "2003-05-16T00:13:53Z")

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lieu, is there no end to your talents? You wax erudite about all matters scatological and now you’re taking on laundry lint. You, sir, are a true Renaissance man.